Martin Hand

Martin Hand is a Professor and Department Head of Sociology at Queen's University. He also serves as Acting Undergraduate Chair. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of York, U.K. His primary research interests include the sociology of culture, media, technology, digital culture, visual culture, and consumerism. He has authored/co-authored influential books such as Ubiquitous Photography and Making Digital Cultures, and edited volumes on big data and digital research methods.

Hand has extensive teaching experience, recently teaching graduate courses in sociological theory and new media cultures, as well as undergraduate courses on visual culture and consumer culture. He has supervised 4 PhDs, 29 MAs, and 37 undergraduate thesis students. His publications span over two decades, focusing on topics like computational seeing, social media visuality, smartphone practices, and digital memory. He actively contributes to academic discourse through journal articles, book chapters, and special issue editorships, such as the 2023 Photographies special issue on machine vision.

Hand's work bridges theoretical sociology with empirical research on digital media's societal impacts. His research emphasizes the interplay between technology, everyday practices, and cultural dynamics, with a focus on temporality, visuality, and datafication in contemporary life.